After Toronto based musician Sam Cash began playing music at the age of 17, he released his first solo effort Teenage Hunger in 2009, while putting together his band Sam Cash and The Romantic Dogs a short time later. Releasing their latest album Tongue in Cheek Vows last year in their native Canada (and with a release in the United States this past February,) the group has released a great single titled “Carmen.” A tune that is perfect for the onset of summer, the quartet’s chunky guitar licks and harmonious vocals, make the track one that you’ll want to spin repeatedly. Knowing that they needed one last great rock and roll number for their LP to make it complete, the band gives details below about the inspiration behind “Carmen.”
“A street poetry style song a la Thin Lizzy or Bob Seeger. This was the last song written for the album ‘Tongue-In-Cheek Vows’. I had submitted all the rest of the songs, and we thought we still needed one last great Rock N Roll number. I had had the name “Carmen” kicking around in my head for a while. There was something mysterious and elusive about that name that it describes the character right away. It’s a song about one of those relationships that almost engulfs you, where your partner is so enchanting that you sort of develop tunnel vision. But all along she is quite broken, and that aloofness that you found so enchanting turned out to be a defensive guard that keeps the heart locked. It creates an endless cycle, where the relationship is toxic, but no matter how hard you try, you can’t escape it.”
Take a listen to “Carmen” below.
